Because I Love You
by kwhimsy
Summary: [7x06 AU] With their lives now intertwined, the Castle and Beckett of the alternate universe now find themselves facing the aftermath of the shot. How will their relationship unfold? Updates every Monday.
1. Saving Mr Castle

All credit for the creation of the characters and universe in which this fic takes place goes to the creator of Castle, Mr. Andrew W. Marlowe and the fantastic writers that create the storylines week after week. Thank you as well to the respective actors for bringing such realism to the characters, and to everybody involved in the production of the show.

TL;DR: I own nothing, please don't sue.

۰ ۰ ۰

The shots rang out throughout the empty cement shell of a building as Kate fired two bullets clean into the sub's chest. There was a dull thud as the suspect's body fell to the floor, followed by a sickening crack of his skull connected with the concrete but by then Kate was running towards the man that had saved her life. The sound of her heels clicking against the floor was the only sound echoing through the abandoned plant, her expression a mixture of horror and panic as she dropped to the ground next to him.

"Oh god," she whispered as her eyes took in the quickly spreading pool of blood seeping out of the bullet hole in his chest. And yet, even as her hands moved to find something, anything to staunch the bleeding she couldn't help the question that slipped from her lips. "Mr Castle, you saved my life. Why?"

"Because I love you Kate." The four words were said with a quiet intensity as his pain glazed eyes focused on her if only for a brief moment. And yet it was the way he said it, it was with an undercurrent of common sense, as though she should have known what the answer would be even before he voiced it.

It took her a moment to realize that she had even asked the question and his answer barely registered between her frantic attempts to control the blood flowing form his wound. "Mr Castle," she started, her response instinctive to a man she barely know, a perfect stranger declaring his love for her. But before she could say any more, she saw his eyes flicker shut, his head nodding off to one side as he drifted into unconsciousness. "No please don't go, stay with me. Stay with me. Castle!"

By now, her hands were red, the blood soaking through the makeshift bandage that was her blazer. Adrenaline roaring through her veins, she barely had time to react when she finally registered the sound of heavy footfalls behind her. Her hands grasping towards her gun, she yanked it out of her holster and spun around, aiming straight at the SWAT team that was infiltrating the building.

"Ma'am, put your weapon down!"

The adrenaline pumping through her veins did little to calm her down, and it took her a brief second to realize that it was the backup she had called for before entering the building. Removing her finger from the trigger as she put one hand up in mock surrender, she angled her right hip towards the team, revealing the badge pinned there. "Captain Beckett of the 12th Precinct, badge number 41319," she called out, identifying herself before nodding towards Castle's figure on the ground. "Civilian down, we need an ambulance down here stat."

۰ ۰ ۰

The thudding of blood rushing against her eardrums as she pressed the blazer against the wound.

The wail of the siren as the ambulance pulled into the warehouse lot.

The metallic protest of the gurney's wheels, escorted by two Emergency Medical Personnel across the uneven cement floor.

Hearing Esposito and Ryan's voices behind her, telling her that she needed to let the Paramedics to their job as their hands pulled her up and away from where Castle's body was splayed on the ground.

A blanket being thrown over her shoulders despite her vehement protests that she's fine, watching as Castle is loaded into the back of an ambulance. The doors slamming shut, cutting off her view and the van pulling out of the lot as the wail of the sirens grow fainter and fainter.

Her mind scrambling to put together the details of the event: the gunshot, shooting the perpetrators, the blood spreading across Castle's shirt like a grotesque flower. And her mind finally registering the words that had slipped from between Castle's lips.

"Because I love you, Kate."

۰ ۰ ۰

There was always a moment before sleeping and waking, when time seemed to stand still. Even if it was only for just a brief moment, Castle still clung to these moments as best as he could. In them, he could pretend life was perfectly fine. The fantasy world of his imagination would balance precariously for a brief moment, almost tangible in it's reality.

And then, the delicate balance would come crashing down around him as he was brought back to reality. How his latest book had been a spectacular failure. How Alexis had moved across the country to Los Angeles in what he knew deep down was an attempt to get away from him. How his mother now dominated his life once again, telling him what to and what not to do. How he couldn't seem to write another novel, not after the critics had ripped his life's work to shreds.

Oh, and not to mention how the closest relationship he'd had in the last four years had been with an escort named Chelsea.

The last one always hit an especially sore spot of his ego, considering how fan girls had practically been throwing themselves at him a few years back. Perhaps he shouldn't have killed Derek Storm off after all? But it was too late for that, he had made his bed and would have to lie in it. Figuratively, of course, as Castle hadn't made his bed in years.

Shifting underneath the sheets, Castle couldn't help but notice the strange stiffness in his limbs. What had he been up to the night before? Oddly enough he couldn't remember, though that wasn't an unusual experience for him especially when Tequila shots were involved. The sheets were unfamiliar as well, certainly not the expensive silk ones that he had splurged on for his bed at home. Perhaps he had gotten lucky last night after all.

And that beeping, the insistent and irritatingly repetitive sound that refused to stop. Opening his eyes groggily as his arms extended above his head to stretch, the last remnants of sleep were stolen from him as an involuntary gasp slipped past his lips. The pain came out of nowhere; the searing pain in the middle of his chest that stole the breath right from his lungs and left him gasping in bewilderment.

The commotion was enough to rouse one of the two figures sleeping by the window, if the hurried footsteps were any indication. The beeping had quickened as well, matching the heartbeat thudding away in his chest. His hands reached towards the source of the pain, the shock registering on his face as his fingers met gauze and tape rather than his own skin.

"Dad? Dad, you have to relax. The doctors said you can't get excited or…" the familiar voice trailed off as she attempted to phrase the sentiment in a way that wouldn't cause him to panic more. "…or it wouldn't be good." Her own fear was thinly veiled behind a false mask of certainty, one that she seemed desperate to maintain as her hands reached to restrain her fathers.

"Alexis?" Castle asked, his panic momentarily subsiding at the newest development. "I… I thought you were in LA. You know. Saving the world or something." Even with the pain thudding away in his chest, he couldn't resist the opportunity to throw a quip at his daughter's expense.

It wasn't very good, but it was enough to elicit a choked sound of laughter from Alexis. "Shut up, dad." she retorted, her face relaxing momentarily as she rearranged the sheets so that it was covering her father. But within seconds, the tension had reappeared as she turned her worried glance towards the figure in the remaining armchair. "Gran hasn't slept properly in days, with Mame in previews and all. She's been going directly to the theater from here." she said as she turned back to Castle. "I told her I could call her if something happened, but you know Gran."

The opening was all Castle needed, and he dove right in. "But what happened?" he asked as he brought his hand up to push the hair off his face. What he wasn't expecting was the needle inserted into his hand, connecting to a plastic tube that snaked it's way up the side of his bed and into an IV drip. "Am… am I in the hospital? Alexis, seriously, tell me now. What happened?"

The worried expression on Alexis's face was back in full force as she eyed her father apprehensively. "You were in a warehouse, and jumped in front of a NYPD Captain to save her life." she started slowly as she watched for her father's reaction. "You… you were shot. Don't you remember any of this?"

The blank expression on Castle's face said it all.

۰ ۰ ۰

A/N: Chapter title based on the movie title 'Saving Private Ryan'.


	2. Hospital Royale

If anything could be said about the walls of the hospital, it was that it the soundproofing of the rooms was essentially nonexistent. Of course, that in itself was normally a downfall (especially seeing how loudly Mr. Wilson next door snored) but Castle found that whatever inconveniences that the thin walls had imposed was being remedied by his present task of eavesdropping.

The cavalcade of medical professionals that had just spent the last hour examining him had taken up court outside the closed door of his room, and he could hear his mother's voice barraging them with what seemed to be an endless list of questions.

"But if he's perfectly fine, why doesn't he remember anything?" Martha asked, her concerned voice as clear as though she were standing right next to him. Honestly, he never thought there'd be a day where he'd appreciate all the 4am 'rehearsals' in their loft, spent attaining the perfection diction. "Have you done all the tests? Cost isn't an issue, I'll pay fo..." she began.

"I assure you Mrs Rodgers, we've run all the tests." a deep voice interrupted in what could be considered a reassuring tone. "Your son seems perfectly coherent, and as far as we can tell his cognitive functions have not been affected." There was a short pause augmented by the faint sound of rustling paper. "What we think may have happened is that when he was shot..."

"Dad, really. You shouldn't be listening, you should be focusing on getting better." Alexis scolded, interrupting the doctor as she reluctantly dragged her own attention away from the voices outside of the door. "Here, how about you have some of your lunch? The Chicken Noodle Soup looks almost edible today." she quipped, poking at the questionable lumps of 'chicken' that were floating about.

"Sweetheart, I know you mean well but I'm fine." Castle's attempt to comfort his daughter sounded weak even to his own ears, and he tried supplementing it with a joke. "Besides, it's not like I remember any of it, I was shot remember?"

"Dad!"

"Shh!" Castle exclaimed as he pressed his hand against his daughter's mouth. Whatever else Alexis was going to say was muffled by his palm as his ears strained to catch the words that were being uttered outside his hospital room's door.

"...and we think this has resulted in a case of psychological repression. In most cases, the memory returns within a few weeks, but there is a slightly chance that he will never recover the memories he's lost."

"Well, thank you Doctor." was Martha's only response, a tone of defeat creeping into her voice as she fought to keep her composure.

The sounds of more shuffling could be heard, before the doctor continued. "Mrs Rodgers, I know it's of little consolation but your son is still fairly fortunate. The memories that he seems to have lost are confined to two, three days at most. Even if he never regains the memories, would it really be so bad?" There was another brief pause, followed by a polite "Good day, Mrs Rodgers." as the doctor's footsteps moved down the corridor.

Realizing his hand was still covering his daughter's mouth, Castle turned to see precisely how irritated his daughter was with him before deciding on what to do next. What he didn't expect was to see her worried eyes watching him for his reaction, almost as though she were afraid he was about to implode right before his eyes. "I'm fine, Alexis. Really, I am." he said, attempting to soothe his daughter's nerves with his words as he removed his hand, surreptitiously wiping it against his sheets. "Now, what were you saying about the Chicken Noodle Soup?"

۰ ۰ ۰

A few hours later, a fierce game of poker was underway. Hastily constructed origami visors were on both heads, making do for the lack of suitable eye-concealing apparel in the hospital room. Martha had taken her leave earlier, proclaiming that despite it all 'the show must go on'. But even Castle could hear the strain in her voice as she said it, the exhaustion of the last few days creeping into her words.

It had led him to insist that she return home to the loft for a good night's sleep, something that she had reluctantly agreed to after a few mild protestations on her part. He had attempted to shoo Alexis home as well, but she had stubbornly refused to. Something about how she wasn't going to leave him to wallow by his lonesome in a hospital room, not if she could help it.

Having procured an extra cot and a deck of cards, the two of them were now having a poker game to end all games. Eyeing his daughter from beneath his makeshift visor, Castle took another peak at his cards as he chewed away at the tip of a toothpick. The fingers of his left hand toying with the red pile of gummy bears, it was a moment more before he flicked one towards the colourful stack of gummies in the middle of the table. "I raise you a red bear, care to match that?"

The smirk that flashed across Alexis's face was so brief that Castle found himself wondering if he had imagined it. "Call." she declared, tossing a red bear into the pile to join the rest. "Ok dad, what have you got?"

Castle couldn't contain his grin any longer, and he felt it spread across his face as his hands reached down to reveal his cards. "Straight flush, Jack high." was his response as he flipped his cards over.

Alexis frowned, her brow furrowing as she took one final peak at her own cards. "That's a really good hand," she started, her fingers toying with her cards before she flipped them over. "...except I have a better one. Straight flush, King high." she declared triumphantly as her arms reached out and began racking the pile of gummy bears towards her.

"What? No way." Castle groaned as he leaned forward, verifying for himself that his daughter had bested him. "Really, when did you get so good at this? Have you been practicing? Or are you cheating... wait, are you cheating?" he asked, leaning back before popping one of the gummy bears into his mouth.

"Hey! I would never cheat." Alexis defended as she aimed a gummy bear at her father's head. Unable to resist grinning at how easily her dad caught the bear in his mouth, she shook her head. "And I may have played a few games down in LA... won most of them of course." she added as she began shuffling the cards together once again.

Lapsing into a comfortable silence, Castle proceeded to snack on the bears in front of him, depleting his already limited stock of bears. "You know, I've missed our games." he started as his eyes met his daughters'. His tone was hesitant as he added the last line. "We had fun sometimes, didn't we?"

A reluctant smile appeared on Alexis's lips as she paused in her shuffling to look up. "Yeah, dad. We did." she replied as she hesitantly met her father's eyes. But before she could say anymore, the two were interrupted by the faint sound of knocking on the door. "Dad, were you expecting anybody?" Alexis asked, her voice hushed as she turned to look at the door. Out of the corner of his eye, Castle could see her reaching into her pocket for her cellphone.

"No... maybe mother forgot something earlier." Castle offered, as Alexis stood up to answer the door. A quick glance at the clock on the wall told him that it was far too early for the nurses to be doing their post-dinner checks. Turning his attention to the door, he was just in time to see Alexis opening the door just a tiny bit and peering outside. Immediately, Castle could see her shoulders tense visibly as his daughter realized whom it was.

"Captain Beckett," she began, her voice mirroring the set of her shoulders. "My dad isn't really feeling up to visitors right now."

Castle couldn't help himself, leaning off to one side of his bed as he attempted to peer around his daughter. "Alexis, I'm fine. Who is it?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him as he struggled to keep his off-kilter position on the bed.

Glancing back over her shoulder, he could see the indecision in her face. Seeing the position that her father had gotten himself into, she sighed before abandoning the door in favour of helping Castle back into the bed. The door swung open to reveal a brunette woman holding a vase of flowers. "It's the woman you... well." she started, her hands busy tucking the blanket back around him as her gaze hesitated over her own words as her eyes flickered to the wound hidden under his hospital gown.

۰ ۰ ۰

A/N: Chapter title based on the movie title 'Casino Royale'.


	3. The Case Files

It had taken some persuading on Castle's part, but Alexis had eventually departed for the loft. He had reasoned that if she were to stay with him she'd need an overnight bag, and with a fine upstanding member of the NYPD here it would be the perfect time for her to go pack such a bag.

Alexis's expression had told him precisely what she had thought about the 'fine upstanding member of the NYPD' currently standing in her father's hospital room, especially considering how she had been the one responsible for getting her dad shot in the chest. And yet, she had reluctantly left after realizing the truth in her father's words. If she were being perfectly honest, there was no safer place to leave him than the hands of an armed and trained detective. That and she did need the clothes.

Now that Alexis was gone, Beckett had taken the newly vacated seat next to his bed. The quiet that had enveloped the room was suffocating, and the two seemed willing to look at anything and everything except for the other person. The ticking of the clock was the only indication of the passing time, and uncomfortably reminded Castle of a ticking time bomb that was just waiting to explode.

Eventually unable to take it any longer, Castle turned to speak. "The flowers are a nice touch," he started, the words spilling out of his mouth on their own accord.

Beckett had chosen that precise moment to speak as well, her words colliding with Castle's in the previously silent space. "I apologize for the events that occurred, and would like to extend both my personal and the thanks of the entire NYPD department." she started, a faint hint of guilt seeping into her words despite her best efforts.

"...though I usually prefer my payment in some form of chocolate. Candy is perfectly acceptable as well." he finished in the silence that had followed Beckett's words. Resisting the urge to grin at the expression of the woman seated to his right, Castle settled back against the headboard and waited for her response.

Beckett's expression flickered for a brief moment, caught between amusement and exasperation as she examined the man in the hospital bed. But she was far too good of a detective to let herself be thrown for long. "Good to know," she responded, her expression carefully blank as she scrutinized him. "And what sort of questionable work do you do that requires payment in those forms?"

Unable to suppress the grin any longer, the corners of Castle's lips turned upwards as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Well played, Captain." he responded as his eyes examined her further. She wasn't like the detective that he had worked with for the copycat murders a few years back, and certainly was not as dry and boring as he had been.

Kate Beckett, on the other hand, had other things to ask Castle and she found herself briefly hesitating before reaching down for her briefcase. "Actually, this isn't purely a social call." she started as she unclasped the latches and pulled out a manila folder and pen from it's depths. "We were actually hoping that you'd be up to giving us your statement. Is there anything you remember about last night?"

Castle, on the other hand, found that he was enjoying himself immensely in the company of the Captain. "Well, I should probably start by saying that I don't remember anything," he answered, shrugging his shoulders in a careless manner as his fingers reached down to play with a loose thread of the sheets. "The doctors think that it has to do with something called psychological repression? Not that I was listening through doors or anything." he concluded with a self satisfied smile. He knew eavesdropping had been a good idea, no matter what his daughter may or may not have said.

Beckett's expression, on the other hand, seemed to have fallen if ever so slightly. "You don't remember anything?" she clarified, her own thoughts drifting to the four little words that she had been hoping to ask him about. "Nothing about what happened... or what you may have said?"

"No... why. Did I say something horribly embarrassing? Did I spill my life story?" he asked, eager to discover what precisely had transpired within the two or so days that he couldn't remember. "I did, didn't I? What did I say? Was it about Idina Menzel and the whole Let It Go debacle? Because it was a pretty fine job if I do say so myself."

"No, nothing like that." was her response, as she opened the file and pretended to scrawl something down. "Just a standard question, that's all." It totally wasn't, but it wasn't as though Castle would ever find out. "And the bit about your little duet? That was in your police file."

Castle, couldn't help but smirk as he waited for her to stop writing. It had been fun, or at least what he remembered had been. There had been a fair amount of tequila involved at any rate, and his memory wasn't particularly reliable on those occasions. But he didn't dwell too long on that, as he was already thinking ahead. "So, I was with you when I was shot?" he finally asked as she looked up from her folder.

Flinching at his choice of words, Beckett hesitated for a brief moment before nodding.

"Right, so you'd be the person to ask. What were we doing?"

Her dark eyes appraising Castle, she made a snap decision and concluded that it wouldn't hurt to divulge case information to him. He had technically assisted the department and had been present for the events themselves. "Well, we discovered a body and you were instrumental in helping us discover where the victim had been." she began, pausing for a brief moment before continuing. "You... ah, well. You were kidnapped because they might have thought you knew more than you were letting on."

Castle couldn't help it; his eyes widened as his mind processed the new information. "Whoa, no way. I was kidnapped?" he asked, grinning as he reached towards the beside table for his phone. "I can't believe I don't remember any of this. Wait until my poker buddies hear about this!" His fingers flying across the screen, he paused for a moment before looking up. "Wait, what about the part where I got shot?"

Beckett couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes as his antics. He was like a child, a nine year old on a perpetual sugar rush. And yet, she somehow found it both endearing and incredibly irritating at the same time. "Well, I shot the two that had kidnapped you. The third guy, he appeared out of nowhere and tried to shoot me but you jumped in front of me and took the bullet instead." she responded, ignoring the usual impulse to cushion the story for the victim. He didn't appear to be traumatized at any rate; rather, he seemed to be enjoying it all.

"Ah, so I was the hero? The knight in shining armour?" he proclaimed, doing his best to strike a knightly pose despite the hospital gown he was dressed in and the constraints of the narrow hospital bed.

"Don't push it." Beckett muttered, the corners of her lips curving upwards despite the fact that she was shaking her head.

Before Castle could push any further, the door to the room was pushed open revealing Alexis carrying what looked to be a rather heavy duffel bag. Pausing for a moment in the doorway as she took in the smiles on both their faces, she strode in before dropping the bag into the empty armchair. "Dad, you ok?" she asked, turning her expression of concern towards her father.

"Yeah, Beckett here was just filling me in on what had happened that night. You know, how I got shot and all?"

Immediately feeling the full force of Alexis's death glare, Beckett cleared her throat before closing the folder and replacing it into the briefcase. "Well, Mr Castle, you've been extremely helpful. Thank you for your time." she said, extending her hand and shaking Castle's before turning to leave. Before she was able to escape down the corridor however, she heard Castle calling her name.

"Captain Beckett?" he asked, watching as she stopped at the mention of her name. "You did say I was quite helpful to the NYPD before. Could I jump aboard again? You know, help out with a few cases? Oh! I could be like Sherlock, a consulting detective and all." Turning to Alexis, who had just let out a sound of disbelief, Castle raised a finger. "Look, I'm stuck in this bed, it's not like I'm going to be able to do much else. Plus helping solve a murder? Now that'd be cool.

Pausing in the doorway, Beckett found herself torn between amusement and exasperation once again. "Look, Mr Castle, I really do appreciate how you saved my life," she started, glancing briefly at Alexis's murderous expression. "But I cannot allow a civilian to join my investigative team." Castle's expression had fallen, and she found herself trying to comfort him. "Besides, aren't you busy with that new character of yours?"

He knew it had been a stupid idea, but Castle couldn't help the sinking feeling in his chest as she turned down his request. Of course it had been a long shot, but still. "Wait, new character?" he found himself asking, his brow furrowing as he looked across the room towards Beckett. "What new character?"

Beckett's expression was one of confusion as she eyed Castle apprehensively. "You, well, you said you were creating a new detective character. Based on what you've read about me in the papers?" she asked, flushing slightly at the last few words. "Nikki Heat."

۰ ۰ ۰

A/N: Chapter title based on the television show 'The X Files'.


	4. The Writers' Redemption

Castle found himself unable to sleep that night.

Instead, he found himself perusing the internet, the soft glow from his laptop illuminating his face as his fingers danced across the keys, searching. His eyes darted across the screen as he opened tab after tab of news articles, and he soon found himself engrossed in the results.

Briefly pausing as he heard Alexis shifting on her cot, his eyes darted towards her straining to see her figure in the dark. But after a moment of snuffling, her breathing returned to the rhythmic pattern of before leaving Castle free to return to his research.

Katherine Houghton Beckett, Manhattanite and Stuyvescant High School alumni. Pre-law student at Stanford before transferring to New York University in 1999 to pursue a career in law enforcement instead. Youngest woman to ever make Captain, and the highest closing rate in the NYPD.

In short, she sounded like a spitfire.

He also found it impossible to get her words out of his head, and the name Nikki Heat had been swirling around for the past few hours. The name itself didn't sound familiar, but sounded as though he had created it nevertheless. Derrick Storm, Clara Strike, and now Nikki Heat.

It was also why he found himself looking her up on the internet so late; he had seen the way Alexis had been glaring at Beckett and knew she would throw a veritable fit if she found out her father was looking into the captain. And with Alexis just beginning to open up to him once again, he didn't want to give her any reason to leave for LA again. But the idea itself was too good to pass up, and would perhaps be just what he needed to start writing again.

"Dad?" came the sleepy question from a few feet away. "What are you doing up?"

Instinctively control tabbing out of the window, Castle glanced over to his daughter. "Couldn't sleep, decided to check my emails." he said as turned the screen towards his daughter. It wasn't even that big of a lie; he had been checking his emails before he had started googling.

"I'm fine, go back to sleep." he assured her when he saw her open her mouth to protest. "I'm just going to finish this email, I swear." he interrupted before she could speak. Watching as Alexis's brow furrowed into a frown, he breathed a small sigh of relief as she nodded her acquiescence before pulling the blanket back over her shoulders.

But rather than focusing his attention back on his screen, he paused to watch his daughter for a moment. In the dimly lit room, he could almost see the red headed little girl that he had checked up on every night. When she had disappeared off to Los Angeles, he had known that it was partly his fault; how he had withdrawn from the world when his book had failed. And yet, against all odds she was now back.

Was he really willing to risk it all for an unknown police Captain?

But if Castle was being honest, it wasn't just about Beckett anymore. It was about him as well, and how he actually felt the urge to write for the first time in ages. How he knew there was a story in there, a story that had turned a young Manhattan socialite from a glittering future as a successful lawyer to that of a NYPD Captain. He'd be kidding himself if he said he wasn't just a tiny bit curious.

Alexis's breathing had evened out once again, a clear indicator that she had fallen back asleep and Castle turned his focus back to the email he had been writing before he had become distracted. His fingers hesitating briefly over the keyboard, he glanced back at Alexis for a moment before he began to move his fingers decisively over the keyboard.

Gina,

I have a new idea for a series. Call me.

Rick

Hitting the send button before he could talk himself out of it, he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Closing the lid of the laptop with a soft click, he deposited the electronic device onto the nightstand beside him before lowering the bed back into a horizontal position.

It was done, and there would be no turning back now.

۰ ۰ ۰

Standing by the window overlooking the busy city streets below, Castle found himself pacing impatiently between the two armchairs as the repetitive ring grating on his already overwrought nerves. Gina had called him that morning, her curiosity getting the better of her.

To her credit, she had been fairly courteous considering how their marriage had ended, and upon hearing that his new book would be more along the lines of his Derrick Storm series versus that of Finite Laughter, she had agreed to give it a shot.

Which was why he was now on the phone, holding for the Mayor.

He knew it would be pointless to go to Captain Beckett directly; she would turn him down in seconds flat. She was too by the book, and he would have no chance getting what he wanted from her. But the Mayor, now he could pull some strings. Possibly even call the Police Commissioner himself if he was so inclined. Either way, it was his best shot at getting his foot in the door of the 12th Precinct.

"Castle! What are you doing calling me? I heard you had gotten yourself shot. What happened?"

"It's a long story, we should go for drinks one night so I can tell you. Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Yeah, haven't seen you since that benefit a year ago?"

"Has it been that long? Speaking of, remember how you said you owed me a favour?"

"Of course, is this you calling to cash in?"

"Why, Mr Mayor, do you really think that lowly of me? But yes, I do have a favour to ask of you."

"If it's within my powers, I'll do my best."

"Alright, well, there's this Police Officer, well Captain really, that I'd like to shadow for my next book..."

۰ ۰ ۰

Beckett's jaw tightened as she turned to face the window in her office. "No sir, I understand. Thank you for letting me know. Yes, yes of course. Thank you." Turning around, she brought the receiver down on the phone with an audible bang before striding back behind her desk. Of all the things she had been dealing with... and now this.

Leaning against her desk, her fingers tightened around the smooth wooden edge as she fought to keep her temper in check. The sound of knocking brought her short reprieve to an end, and she raised her head to see two of her detectives standing in the doorway of her office.

"You okay, Beckett?" Ryan asked, a hint of concern seeping into his voice despite his best efforts.

"Yeah... we heard part of the conversation. Not that we were eavesdropping or anything but, well, it was a bit loud." Esposito added, glancing towards her death grip on the edge of the desk.

Following Espo's line of sight to her hands, Beckett forced herself to release her hold and straightened up. Busying herself by organizing the already neat piles of paper and folders arranged on the surface, she forced to keep her voice even as she spoke.

"Yes, I'm fine. We'll just be having a guest at the precinct for an undetermined length of time," she started as she glanced up to see Espo about to jump in. "The orders came down from the commissioner himself, it's out of my hands."

"Well, who is it?" Ryan asked, his impatience winning over the common sense that was telling him to back off. Beckett looked ready to shoot something, and he'd rather it not be him.

"Richard Castle." she grimaced, as she said his name out loud.

۰ ۰ ۰

A/N: Chapter title based on the television show 'The Shawshank Redemption'


	5. Women on the Verge

"Mr Castle, are you sure you don't remember anything? Anything at all?"

"Like I said doc, nothing until I woke up in the hospital."

Lapsing into an uncomfortable moment of silence, Castle found himself shifting restlessly on the lounge chair he was reclining on. His fingers itched to pick up his iPhone to play a game of something, anything that would distract him from the distinctly awkward situation he was in. But he refrained, choosing to focus on the contents of the singular bookcase in the room instead.

Unable to take the oppressive silence any longer, Castle pushed himself up into a sitting position and cleared his throat. "Right, so. Any more questions?"

"Mr Castle, why do you think you don't remember anything?"

"Well, if i knew that I wouldn't be here now would I?"

"There's no need to be snide with me, Mr Castle." the psychiatrist responded, not unkindly.

"I... well. Sorry."

The silence dragged on, punctuated only by the insistent ticking of grandfather clock in the corner and Castle soon found himself unable to take it anymore. Twisting his neck to he could see Edward seated in the armchair, he was discomforted to see him peering at him from behind a pair of square shaped spectacles with a furrow in his brow.

"Do you think that perhaps you use your, ah, distracting comments as a way to deflect from the situation at hand?"

"Wait, what?"

"Your false bravado, the face you put on for the world." The grey haired psychiatrist was staring at Castle in a way that was making him feel distinctly uncomfortable, almost as though he were being interrogated for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade incident all over again. In his defence that hadn't entirely been his idea; Chelsea had suggested it to him and in his whisky induced state he had concluded that it was a splendid idea.

...At least he got to meet Idina Menzel?

"I do not put on a front." Castle stated firmly, his expression quickly turning to that of distaste as he eyed the renowned psychiatrist in front of him. But before he could elaborate further, he was interrupted by a chime that sounded an awful like that of London's Big Ben.

"Well it looks like we're out of time today, Mr Castle." the psychiatrist said as he lowered the spectacles perched on his nose. Closing the manila folder in his lap he stood up before offering Castle a hand up. "Same time next week?"

"You know what? I don't think so."

۰ ۰ ۰

The taxi ride back to the loft was a quiet one, with Alexis sneaking sideways glances at her dad. It was almost as though she were afraid to say something, afraid that she would set him off with a few words and that hurt him more than anything else.

Letting out a sigh, Castle glanced over as his daughter. "You know I can see you, right?" he asked, as his eyes met the back of her head.

"Dr. VonHaus is suppose to be one of the best."

"I know, sweetheart."

"Are you sure cancelling your weekly appointment was the best idea?" Alexis finally turned to face her father, her eyes meeting his tentatively as she asked her question. "You know how many strings Gran had to pull to get you that appointment."

Now he was the one that refused to meet her eyes, exhaling sharply as he turned to face the window. "I... it just wasn't helping, Alexis." he finally answered, his voice quiet as he stared out at the evening landscape of New York City. "I thought it would, I really did. But it's been 2 months, and nothing."

The rest of the ride was in silence.

۰ ۰ ۰

"Oh Richard, are you sure that was the wisest thing to do?" Martha tutted, wineglass already in hand as she struggled to free herself from her mink collared coat. Flinging the coat over the back of the overstuffed armchair by the windows, Martha followed suit as she sunk down into the plush seat. "The man's credentials were impeccable."

Fighting to keep his frustration under control, Castle chose instead to recline back in his office chair avoiding his mother's gaze all the while. "Like I said, it really wasn't helping." he responded as he swirled the amber liquid in his glass, the ice cubes clinking faintly as he took a sip. "Really mother, I think I'm old enough to know my own mind."

Letting the conversation fall into an almost companionable silence, Castle took another sip of his whisky before closing his eyes and listening to the rush of New York City traffic on the streets below.

When Castle spoke again, it was in a voice much softer than the one he had been using before. "It's been 2 months, mother, and I still don't remember anything." he started, opening his eyes to meet his mother's concerned gaze. "I thought it'd help, I really did. But it's not."

Sighing as she raised her wine glass to her lips, Martha fluttered her free hand upwards in a gesture of defeat before draining the rest of her glass in one go. "Well, if you're sure, darling."

۰ ۰ ۰

Castle found himself grateful for the countertop that separated him from the rather scary women standing on the other side. Resting his palms flat against the marble surface, he lowered his heads as their words rained down on him.

"What do you mean you're going to be following her around?" Martha asked, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"That detective?" Alexis fumed, her response far less composed than her grandmother's. "You mean the one that nearly got you killed the last time you were around her?"

"I hate to say it darling, but she's right."

"Oh, I'm not only right but this is madness. Sheer madness."

"Again, Alexis has a point darling."

"So having one near death experience wasn't enough, you want to go for another one?" Alexis continued, railing at her father as though her grandmother had never spoken. "You aren't even a police officer. You don't have any police officer training! What are they thinking letting you trail them, what with bullets flying around. And you... you! You signing this waiver, as though that'd solve everything." Scoffing as she waved about the contact in question, she proceeded to toss it back across the counter to her father. "And after everything you told me about being responsible, about going to university to get a degree. As if you're one to talk."

Castle watched as Alexis proceeded to storm up the stairs, her arrival to her room punctuated by the slamming of her bedroom door. Quite frankly, if Castle hadn't just been on the receiving end of his daughters' haranguing he would have been quite tempted to smile.

"You know she said all that only because she cares." Martha stated in a matter of fact tone, having been watching Castle throughout the entire episode.

"I do not care, He can go do whatever he wants!" came Alexis's voice from her room, albeit rather muffled.

The corners of his mouth twitching up in a semblance of a smile, Castle met his mother's eyes before nodding towards the direction of his office. It wasn't until the two were in there, door closed, that Castle finally spoke. "I suppose you're going to yell at me too, mother?"

Letting out an exasperated sort of noise, she shook her head as she moved to stand in front of the window. "You know everything your daughter said is right," she started as she swirled her wineglass absentmindedly. "But I know you well enough by now to know that you'll just ignore whatever we say anyways."

Making a sound as though he'd like to interrupt her, Castle was staved off by his mother's expression as she turned back around to look at her son.

"Don't deny it Richard, I may be a lot of things but I'm still your mother." she responded, her eyes examining her sons' position before her. "Just tell me why, why her?"

"I... I don't know. I really don't." Castle responded, honestly getting the best of him as he met his mother's eye. "It's not just her though, it's just that for the first time in ages I feel like writing again. And if it's about her, well." he responded, punctuating his words with a small shrug.

Martha's gaze never left her son's as she pursed her lips in deliberation. "Well, just be careful then. I don't think Alexis could stand it if you were shot again."

Watching as her son left the room, presumably in the search for another drink, Martha exhaled slowly before sinking into the armchair by the window. "Nor could I Richard, nor could I."

۰ ۰ ۰

A/N: Chapter title based on the television show 'Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'


	6. That's A Lot Of Blood

"And you will not touch anything, interfere in any investigations, distract any of my detectives, or cause a nuisance in anyway. Got that?" Beckett asked, her tone all business as she turned around to face Castle.

Responding with a quick salute and a "Yes, Ma'am.", Castle couldn't help the playful grin that spread across his lips.

"And you will never call me Ma'am again." she added, a steely note creeping into her voice.

"Yes... wait, what do I call you then?"

"Captain."

"Oh Captain, my Captain?"

A brief pursing of Beckett's lips was Castle's only warning before she had his ear between her fingers and was it twisting hard.

"Apples! Apples!"

Frowning, she held on for a few seconds more before releasing him. "Apples?" she inquired as she turned her focus to a new pile of folders on her desk.

"Yeah, it's my safe word, not that I thought I'd be using it here." Castle retorted, as he made of a performance of rubbing his ear, distracting from the uncomfortable and almost painful pulling around the bullet hole in his chest. "So, what's yours?"

"My what?" Beckett hedged, as her eyes scanned a report in one of the files.

"Your safe word, Captain." he quipped, drawing out the word in a way that had it sounding more like a suggestion than a rank as he rested one elbow on the wooden desk before him. Propping his head up in his hand, he made a show of tilting his head to one side as his other hand crept up to discreetly massage the chest pain. "I told you mine, it's only fair for you to tell me yours."

Realizing that she wouldn't be able to get any work done if she deal with him first, Beckett lifted her eyes off the paper, hazel eyes meeting blue. "Wouldn't you like to know." she quipped, a smirk playing on her lips as she arched an eyebrow suggestively at him.

Gaping at her sudden change in tone, Castle's elbow slipped off the table sending his head crashing down towards the table. Who on earth was the woman before him, and where had the straight laced Captain gone?

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Beckett returned to the paper work at hand. Her hair concealing the mischievous grin that had replaced the smirk, she shook her head as her fingers reached for a pen. Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as she had thought.

۰ ۰ ۰

It had been nearly two hours since Beckett had left Castle looking slack jawed, and he hadn't bothered her since. It wasn't until he had been staring for a good five minutes or so that Castle realized what he had been doing.

Needing some form of legitimate distraction, he had pulled out his iPhone and created a new note before typing away furiously at it. In the time since then, his meticulous and serious note taking at evolved into an equally important and stressful game of Angry Birds.

His brow furrowing as he launched the last bird towards the structure, he watched with a baited breath as "Yeeeees." he hissed, as the last pig popped. "I got you now, sucker." Then remembering where he was, he glanced up guiltily in the direction of the Captain only to see that he was still being ignored.

It gave him the opportunity to study her however, as her pen danced across the page filling it with her neat penmanship. Her own brow furrowed as she paused to reread what she had written, the room lapsed into an almost painful silence.

"Castle, stop staring at me. It's creepy." she finally ordered, unable to take it any longer.

"I... I wasn't! Well, what I mean is..." he stammered, only to be interrupted by a timely knock on the Captain's door.

At the sound, both Beckett and Castle turned to locate the source. Finding a terse looking Esposito standing in the doorway, he spared Castle the briefest of nods before turning his attention to Beckett.

"Captain... you might want to see this."

۰ ۰ ۰

The ride to the airport was a terse one, Castle and Beckett in one car while Esposito and Ryan went separately. She didn't seem all that eager to talk to him, turning the volume of the radio up to the point where any conversation would have to be yelled.

A quick flash of Beckett's badge had them cruising through the gates and onto the tarmac. It wasn't hard to find the crime scene; cordoned off by yellow tape and surrounded by flashing police cruisers.

Pulling up into an empty space, Beckett turned the key in the ignition effectively silencing the radio. Staring steadily out the dashboard, she finally broke the silence. "Do you remember my instructions from the precinct?"

"I will not touch anything, interfere in any investigations, distract any of the detectives, or cause a nuisance in anyway." Castle recited back, his answer a word for word reproduction of what she had said.

Schooling her features to hide her surprise, Beckett simply gave him a nod before unlocking the doors. "And if I tell you to stay somewhere, you will."

"Scout's honour." he promised, holding three fingers up and saluting Beckett.

Joining Esposito and Ryan out by the nose of the plane, Beckett frowned as she examined the cold metallic exterior of the private plane. Nothing looked out of place on the outside, which meant that whatever was going on was definitely an inside job. "Alright, fill me in."

"Flight number 481, coming in from the Maldives this morning. The plane was unresponsive, port authority sent two fighter jets up to escort it in." Ryan began, flipping through his notebook as he went. "One reported seeing stains on the windows."

"Stains?"

Ryan hesitated briefly before nodding his ascent. "Blood."

Feeling a chill run down her spine, Beckett glanced back towards the plane to hide her expression. "I'm surprised port authority let them land." she finally responded, careful to keep her voice level and detached. As her eyes surveyed the scene, she realized that most of the officers were still by their vehicles, milling about. "Why hasn't anybody gone inside yet?" she snapped, turning back towards the two detectives beside her.

"FBI requested that the plane be locked up until they got here, Washington approved their request." Esposito replied, unfazed by Beckett's sudden mood change. He and Ryan had worked with Beckett before she had been made Captain, and although the respect was there he wasn't perhaps as scared of her as the other detectives were.

"And nobody thought to look in through the windows?"

"Well, Cooper over there did... he's been puking his guts up ever since." Ryan commented, pointing towards a cop that was a 9 year veteran, and easily cleared 6 feet. At the present, he was doubled over emptying the contents of his stomach onto a little patch of grass.

What the hell was in that plane?

Hearing the blaring of sirens in the distance, she turned to see a fleet of black SUV's come driving through the gate, ones that were standard FBI issue. "Castle, stay put." she ordered as she turned to face the incoming troops. "Espo, Ryan, with me please."

"But that's not fair..." Castle started to whine, ignoring her orders and taking a step towards them.

"Doesn't matter, remember you gave me your word." Beckett responded as she waited for the suv's to pull to a halt. "Stay put."

Leaving a sulking Castle behind, Beckett approached the first car in the fleet with Ryan and Espo both in tow. "Captain Beckett," she said, extending her hand to shake that of the agent. "This here is Detective Ryan and Esposito, we're with the Homicide Division of the NYPD. You've ordered the plane to be locked until your arrival?"

"Agent Shaw, wish we were meeting under more pleasant circumstances." the woman responded, her voice clipped as she took in the plane before them. "Nobody's gone in or out?"

"As per your instructions." Beckett responded, resisting the urge to set the woman straight. "Look, we were told that there was blood on the inside of the plane, and nine times out of ten where where's blood there's a body." she argued, as they made their way across the tarmac to the stairs. "We won't be able to investigate without a crime scene."

"Oh, it was never my intention to cut you out." Shaw responded as she nodded to an Agent to open the door. "Just so long as we're clear on who's running point on this." she added as she handed a pair of gloves to Beckett. "Anything you find you tell me immediately, got it?"

Biting back her pride, Beckett nodded before stepping into the plane.

Immediately overcome by the heavy metallic stench of blood, Beckett forced herself her legs to keep moving, past the walls caked in blood, past the seats drenched in it. She refused to let herself throw up, not in front of everybody here.

Hearing the sounds of retching and the squishing of footsteps against the carpet as person after person rushed out, Beckett didn't have to look down to know that the carpet was drenched in blood as well.

Finally spotting the body on the ground between two chairs, Beckett crouched down to examine the body. It was bloated beyond recognition, and fighting her gag reflex Beckett chose to focus on the fact that the body in front of her had been a person, somebody with a family that wanted to know what had happened.

"Captain?" Ryan asked tentatively, his voice sounded as though it were miles away rather than within the close confines of an airplane.

Blinking rapidly, Beckett shook her head as though to clear her thoughts before straightening back up. "Bag and tag anything you find, you know the drill. Let's catch the son of a bitch that did this." she responded as she pulled out her phone.

Lanie, I know you said you wouldn't work with Espo but I could really use your help on this case. Kate.

Just as she was about to send the text, she heard an all too familiar voice from the entrance of the plane. Or rather, a squeal.

"Omigosh, this is so cool!" Castle exclaimed, ignoring the disapproving glances he was given by everybody who was involved.

"Castle!"

"What? I was never a boy scout."

۰ ۰ ۰

A/N: Chapter title based on the movie 'There Will Be Blood'.


	7. Kingdom of Castle

The lights in the precinct were dim, echoing the darkened landscape of the city outside. Beckett's pen scratched across the page as she finished up the last of her paperwork, finally dropping her pen and stretching backwards with a relieved groan.

Having been made Captain a few years back, Beckett had accepted the position eagerly. And by doing so, she supposed she had implicitly shouldered the massive amount of paperwork that came with the territory. But what what she hadn't expected was to feel so alienated from those she had considered close co-workers before; as their boss she found that it was simply harder to interact socially with them.

Sighing as she closed the folder and placed it on top of the stack, Beckett pushed herself up onto her feet and gathered her belongings. Her coat over one arm as she closed the office door behind her, she was about to pass by the nearly empty bullpen when the stark white background of her murder board caught her eye.

Well, the murder board rather; it may have been her idea in the beginning but it had long since been adopted by the other detectives.

Hesitating for a brief moment, she found herself drawn almost inexplicably towards the board. Stopping in front of it, her brow furrowed as she perused the timeline. There really was nothing much to go on, only a picture of the deceased along with the picture of two other men. There was a little note in Ryan's shorthand that indicated the three were part of a drug cartel out of the Maldives, but that still didn't explain where the two of them had disappeared to.

And she found herself almost missing these moments, the ones where she could disappear into a case and carve out the minute details that could solve the entire thing. That and she missed how she could give closure to families, the ones that had lost somebody they loved.

The closure that she hadn't received with her mother's death.

Her fingers creeping upwards, she found herself tugging at the chain around her neck as she freed it from within the confines of her blouse. Toying with the ring at the end, she was so absorbed that she didn't realize she had been joined until she felt the fingers tapping on her shoulder.

Her head snapping towards the source, it took her a moment to realize that it was none other than Castle. "What are you doing here? I thought you left hours ago." Her question came out harsher than she intended, all bite and edge as she glanced around to see if any of the other detectives had seen her jump.

"I left my phone behind," Castle explained, wiggling the device that he now had clutched in his right hand. "Need it for a publishers' meeting tomorrow morning." Pausing, his eyes travelled from Beckett's eyes down to the ring she had between her fingers. "That's a pretty ring, who's the lucky man?"

"No." Beckett snapped, as her fingers dropped the ring, busying her hands with pulling her coat on instead. The silence in their little corner of the bullpen was almost repressive as she preoccupied herself with buttoning up the jacket, and she found herself regretting her reaction somewhat. Glancing back up at the murder board, she paused before speaking again. "It was my mothers."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was ages ago."

The silence this time was a companionable one, Castle shifting from where he had been standing before to leaning against the table next to Beckett. "So, any ideas?"

"Not a clue," she admitted, a slight smile spreading across her lips. "Still waiting to her back from the charter company, should be no later than tomorrow." she added as her eyes drifted over to the crime scene photos that had been tacked up on the opposite end of the board.

Feeling her stomach turn as she remembered the gruesome details, she sought to distract herself from that feeling. "You're a writer, any theories?"

"Well, this was obviously an alien kidnapping gone wrong."

"...What?"

"Aliens obviously kidnapped the three of them, but the victim... Naadir Thakur is it?" He asked, horribly butchering the name. "Well, he obviously struggled and left the beam causing him to implode and his body to swell."

"Castle..."

"And because an imploded human body obviously wasn't of any use to them, they dumped him back on the plane before making off with the others." he continued, ignoring Beckett's incredulous look.

To be fair, she supposed it had been her fault, asking a fiction writer and all. "Right, well, unfortunately we're going to have to shelve that theory until we find proof of alien life."

"Oh, now that'd be cool." Castle enthused, his expression reminding her of a little child who was being offered candy. "I can see the headlines now, NYPD discovers proof of extraterrestrial life."

"Castle!" she admonished, unable to hide the smile on her face as she smacked him playfully in the chest. What she didn't expect was for his breath to hitch, his hand darting up to his chest as an expression of pain flickered across his face.

It took her a moment, but when she realized why she was berating herself over her own stupidity. "Oh Castle, I'm so sorry." she whispered, her own hand fluttering upwards to hover in front of Castle's chest before dropping back down to her side. "I... I honestly forgot."

"No, it's fine." Castle replied, his hand massaging the bullet wound that had been causing him so many problems over the last few weeks. "Just give me a moment." he added, the tension in his shoulders slowly evaporating as the worst of the pain passed.

۰ ۰ ۰

Beckett had insisted on treating him to a drink, down at an old time bar that she had frequented with the boys back when she had been a detective. She had seen his expression of surprise when the two exited the cab, starting as his eyes darted between the bar's entrance and Beckett.

"This is the bar you were talking about?"

"What, not posh enough for the famous Richard Castle?" she teased, paying the cabbie before joining him on the sidewalk. "It's called The Old Haunt, it's a lot nicer on the inside I promise."

"I didn't say anything," Castle muttered as the two of them walked towards the entrance. Holding the door open for her, he couldn't help but add "And the outside is quite nice, thank you very much."

About to ask him what he meant, Beckett was distracted by the waitress that approached them. "Table for two please." she requested, holding up two fingers before following the waitress to a corner booth seat. "Could we get the booth?" she added, pointing towards the corner table that she had so frequently utilized in the past.

The beers arriving shortly after, Beckett found herself playing with the glass as she tried to come up with something to say. Glancing at Castle out of the corner of her eye, she couldn't help but notice that he looked rather preoccupied as he glanced around the bar. Perhaps this hadn't been such a good idea after all.

"I really am sorry about the smack," she eventually said, interrupting the silence. "I didn't realize... well I suppose I should of." she corrected herself as she glanced down at where she knew the bullet hole was located. "It's just that it's been three months, and I thought that it would have healed by then. If I had known..."

"Kate." Castle interrupted her, bringing one hand to rest on hers in an attempt to silence her. "It's fine, really."

Frowning, she shook off his hand before absentmindedly reaching back to toy with the ring on the chain. "It's Beckett to you, Castle."

His eyes crinkling in amusement, he took another drink from his beer before settling against the padded back of the booth. "So, what's the story with the necklace?"

"I already told you, it was my mothers'."

"I know, but most people don't wear their mothers' engagement ring around their neck."

"Castle." she warned, her eyes flickering upwards in a show of anger.

Lapsing back into silence, Beckett found herself almost regretting cutting him out. There really was no need for her to be so defensive, it had happened years ago after all and nothing would change it. "She was murdered, I had just turned 19." Hearing Castle's sharp intake of breath, Beckett glanced nervously towards him out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean to pry."

"It's fine, Castle." she sighed as she swallowed a mouthful of the beer before bringing the mug down against the table with a resounding thunk. Pausing, she decided to simply go with it. "Remember the case I said I was never able to solve? The one that made me want to become a detective?"

Castle didn't, but he was smart enough to keep his expression neutral enough as he made a sound that could be construed as either a yes or a no.

"It was my mother's case." she offered, shrugging her shoulders half heartedly as she stared into the depths of her mug. She honestly had no idea why she was telling Castle all of this, she barely knew the man.

Knowing better than to take her hand into his after his last attempt was rebuffed, Castle chose to lean forward onto the table instead, his arms resting flat against the wooden surface. "I'm sure you will, one day. There's bound to be something in the file, something that's waiting to be found. And then it'll all make sense." he offered, smiling as she peeked up at his face.

Studying Castle's earnest expression, Beckett suddenly felt herself shut down. She honestly didn't know what she was doing here, drinking beer with a man she barely knew, and telling him her life story. Granted, he had saved her life but other than that there was nothing between them, nothing there.

Deciding that it was time to end the conversation, she raised the mug to her lips before draining it in one go. "Look, it was nice talking to you but I have to get up early for work tomorrow." she explained, as she looked for the waitress to get the check.

"Hey, don't worry about the check, the drinks are on me." Castle offered, once he realized what Beckett was doing.

"No, it was my idea, my treat."

"I agree, but..."

"If anybody is going to be paying, it's going to be me."

Exasperated, Castle finally decided to just come out with it. "I'd agree, if anybody was paying. But I kind of own this bar." Her silence was the only response he needed, and he found himself unable to resist smiling if only just a little bit.

۰ ۰ ۰

A/N: Chapter title based on the movie 'Kingdom of Heaven'.


	8. Desperately Seeking Answers

"Ryan, Espo, what have you got?"

Exiting the elevator, the clicking on Beckett's heels had preceded her as always. And yet, seeing how neither the boys or Castle had turned around, it had to mean that they had discovered something interesting. Well, that and the fact that the boys weren't attempting to haze Castle yet again.

"Plane originated from Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, their security faxed over a copy of the passenger manifest just now." Ryan filled in, nodding towards Espo who was typing away on the computer. "Two other passengers are listed along with our dead guy, Naadir Thakur. Espo's looking..."

"Got something," Espo interrupted, just as the computer pinged. "Shadhu Manikfan, one of the other passengers? Dual US Maldive citizenship, has a prior for drug trafficking and did a fiver in Sing Sing back in 2002."

"So this was a drug deal gone bad?" Castle asked, leaning forward to read through the charges listed on the screen.

"Bro, stop breathing down my neck." Espo grumbled, reaching back to shove Castle away.

Beckett couldn't help the smirk that spread across her lips. "Boys, stop fighting." she warned, resisting the strong urge to roll her eyes. "Any details about the other two?"

"No, Naadir and... err... Aphrah Khadejah? Both don't have any priors listed in our database." Ryan offered, having just finished the search at his own station.

"We might be able to help with that."

Four heads swivelled towards the source, and came to a rest on Agent Shaw.

"Naadir Thakur and Aphrah Khadejah are both known members of a drug cartel out of the Maldives." she offered, tossing the file she had been carrying onto Espo's desk.

"Why..." Ryan started

"We're the FBI, we have access to more databases. I'm mean, I'm assuming you're asking why nothing turned up in your search?" Agent Shaw explained, turning her attention to Beckett. "Captain, I'd appreciate it if you kept us in the loop."

"The boys were just briefing me, would have passed the information on to you once I was done here."

"Great."

Waiting until Agent Shaw had returned to the boardroom, Beckett leaned down and planted her hands against the surface of the desk. "Anything you guys find, come to me first." she instructed, her voice low as she kept an eye on the door. "I don't know what the FBI's angle is, but ours is to solve this murder. Understood?"

۰ ۰ ۰

"Creepy." Castle offered as the elevator doors opened, revealing the dimly lit corridor of the morgue. "Looks like the perfect place for a zombie attack."

"Shut up, Castle."

"I'm just saying, there's probably enough bodies in here to create a small army."

"Castle!"

Following behind Beckett as she pushed the doors to the morgue open, Castle's eyes immediately zoned in on the body on the table. "Sweet! Is that the body from the plane?" he asked as he darted in front of Beckett and rushed to the side of the body.

"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't touch my body." came a voice from the doorway to another room.

Immediately withdrawing his hands from where they had been about to prod the body as if he had been shocked, he tucked them into the pockets of his jacket as an expression of innocence appeared on his face. "I don't know what you're talking about, I would never..."

"Lanie, what have you got?" Beckett interrupted as she stepped forward, casually elbowing Castle out of the way.

"Well, the vic definitely wasn't shot," Lanie began as the heavily pregnant woman finally stepped out of her office, clipboard in hand. "The lungs however... they suffered from explosive decompression, and I think that's what the C.O.D was."

"His lungs exploded?" Castle interrupted, his mouth agape as he stared at the woman in shock.

"Well, to put it simply yes."

"How about the blood all over the cabin?" Beckett asked, glaring daggers at Castle as he opened his mouth in an attempt to say something else.

"Well that's the interesting part, there were actually two donors in the samples that I gathered." Lanie started, flipping through a few pages before passing the clipboard to Beckett. "Neither of them matched the vic though. So I ran them against the other two passengers, and got a match."

"You have DNA samples from the other two men?" Beckett asked, surprise creeping into her tone as she looked up at Lainie.

"Well, we do for Shadhu from his stint in Sing Sing." Lanie explained, reaching towards the clipboard and flipping to the page with Shadhu's DNA comparison on it. "Aphrah not so much, but the blood type he has on file is the same as that donor."

"Thanks, Lanie."

"Oh, don't thank me yet. I haven't gotten to the best part yet."

Arching an eyebrow, Beckett handed the clipboard back to Lanie and waited.

"The amount of blood in the plane... it might not have matched the vic, but there was enough from both donors to indicate that neither men would have survived."

"Wait, so we have three dead men?"

"Looks that way." Lanie said as she tucked the clipboard between her arm and her body. "And you, Kate, owe me big time for this. The smell from the chemicals is making me nauseous."

۰ ۰ ۰

A/N: Chapter title based on the movie 'Desperately Seeking Susan'.


	9. A Thin Line Between Love and Hate

The murder board was normally a source of comfort for Beckett. Gruesome pictures and details aside, it was a place where logic ruled, and where lines could be drawn connecting independent details and events together. A slow and steady piecing of the puzzle pieces, until the picture stood as an understandable whole. And yet, in this particular case it seemed as though with every new detail that they unearthed the puzzle made less and less sense, changing and reshuffling themselves until nothing seemed to make any sense.

This latest insight from Lanie was a prime example of just that; with all three passengers dead it meant that whatever theories the boys and her had been building, had effectively been thrown out the window. Not that there had been many to begin with seeing as there was only so much that could be done at 35,000 feet.

Their only remaining lead was with the pilot of the plane, one Faseeh Kavah. The boys were running that lead down now, or rather, that the FBI were running down with Ryan and Espo observing. They had been disgruntled when their own search had turned up nothing, but their discontent seemed to have been forgotten (if only temporarily) as they gawked at the various high tech tools that were being toted into the precinct by one Agent Shaw.

To Castle's credit, he had managed to restrain himself from gawking at the various gadgets. Instead, he had chosen to disappear off towards the elevators all while muttering something about battery acid and monkey piss.

Writers.

Refocusing on the murder board, she found herself zeroing in on the rather pitiful looking timeline occupying the top portion of the board. Sparsely filled out with information such as the takeoff time, the point where all communications with the plane was lost, and the time of landing, she found her frustration only growing more and more palatable as time passed.

In all honesty, when she had taken the captain's job her primary concern had been on the difficulty of filling the shoes of her old captain, Roy Montgomery. His death had been an unexpected one; an unexplained shooting in a random airplane hanger that Montgomery had no reason to be in. Even now, the homicide file was sitting on her desk alongside her mothers' file, two cold cases that she would give anything to solve.

What she hadn't expected when she became captain, was how much she would miss being in the bullpen, surrounded by her peers solving cases and giving closure to the families. There had been something therapeutic about the process, giving grieving families the answers that she still wished she could have received. But it was the distance that had developed between her and her former partners that troubled her the most; she hadn't anticipated it and found that it was the hardest change to bear out of them all.

Narrowing her eyes once she realized how far she had let her thoughts wander, she shoved it all to the back of her mind and made a note to deal with it later. There were families right now, families that wanted closure and she wasn't about to let herself be sidetracked by whatever personal issues she had going on.

Thankfully, her frustration of staring at a nearly empty murder board was briefly tempered by the arrival of the boys.

"You could have at least tried to seem unimpressed by their gadgets-" Ryan began, rolling his eyes as he straightened the vest beneath his jacket.

"Bro, you were drooling." Espo shot back, his hand darting up to mimic the paths that the alleged drool had taken down Ryan's face.

"I wasn't droo-"

"You totally were, had to wipe it away and every-"

"It was water from my bottle!"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself tha-"

"Boys!" Beckett interrupted, even as she was unable to control the slight upwards curve of the corners of her lips. She had missed the bantering between the two after all, and now that she found herself locked away in an office most of the time she wasn't privy to its daily occurrences. "What have you got?"

Espo was the first to focus, abandoning his ribbing in favour of handing the file in his hand to Beckett. "Well, the pilot Faseeh Kavah? Turns out our vic knew him. Well, the vic that we found in the airplane at least."

Glancing down at his notebook to verify everything Espo was saying, Ryan glanced up before continuing. "Naadir requested him specifically, though we don't know why as there is no other link between the two men."

Having abandoned her perch on the desk in favour of pacing in front of the murder board during the boys' explanation, Beckett nodded as she relocated the passport photo of Naadir from where it had been nestled with the other two passengers to its new spot next to Faseeh's. "Right, lets put out a BOLO for Faseeh. See if any uniforms spot him and can pick him up."

"Maybe release his picture to the media too? If this guy really did do what we think he did, there's no way he'd be staying in once place for long." Castle interrupted, causing three heads to swivel towards him in surprise. "What? I came back in time to hear what you guys were talking about."

"How-" Beckett began, a frown creasing her brow before she shook her head. "Whatever. But yes, put the BOLO out for Mr. Kavah and release his picture to the media too. Try to make it for the 6:00 news cycle?"

"You got it, boss." Ryan confirmed as he tucked his notebook away before striding off to his desk.

"So, where did you disappear off to for the last few hours?" Beckett asked as she turned on her heel, relocating to her office.

"Why Captain Beckett, did you miss me?" he teased, following her through the door before flopping himself on the sofa against the wall.

"Oh, you have no idea how much."

"Really?"

"No."

Pouting from his location, Castle found himself reaching for the smallest of a set of ivory elephants arranged across the coffee table in front of him. Tracing his finger along the trunk, he flipped it around to study the little markings made on both sides of its body.

"Could you not?" Beckett asked, frowning as she looked up and realized what he had in his hands. "It was my mum's."

"Oh, sorry." He apologized, hastily placing it down to rejoin the rest of its family.

Glancing through the file she had open in front of her, she began the long task of completing the paperwork. The only sound in the room was that of her pen scratching across the paper, and even she found herself unnerved by the sudden silence. Glancing up briefly to ensure that Castle wasn't up to anything stupid, she was relieved to find him entertained by something on his phone.

But as the minutes ticked by, the silence became more oppressive than she would have liked, and she soon found herself interrupting the silence on her own accord. "So, you still haven't answered my question."

"Hmm?" he asked, his fingers busy with tapping and swiping the screen in his hands.

"Where did you disappear off to earlier?"

"Oh, that." He responded as he continued to swipe and send birds flying towards the structures that held little fat green pigs. "Well, the coffee here is awful. Only comparison I can think of is it tastes like a monkey peed in battery acid."

"That's not an answer." She said disapprovingly, even as a smile appeared on her lips.

"Yeah, well, I decided since I'd be spending a lot of time here that we had to fix that."

"Oh?"

"Mhmm. So I went a bought the homicide department an espresso machine."

Her pen made a rather jagged line across the page as she started, glancing up from where she had been focused on her paperwork a moment before. "You did what?"

"An espresso machine. You know, the kind they have at Starbucks?" he continued, letting out a little hiss of victory as he beat the level he was on. Taking that opportunity to glance up to check the clock on the wall, he craned his neck to look out the door just as the elevator pinged. "Ah, speaking of. There it is now."

Darting out of her seat, she crossed the width of her office in a few strides before watching gobsmacked as a massive cardboard box was wheeled out of the elevator. Feeling Castle brush past her as he went out to greet the delivery men, he guided them towards the break room where they promptly began to set up the machine.

"Hey, boss? What's that?" Ryan asked, sidling up to Beckett with Espo right behind him.

"Yeah, is Castle renovating or something?"

Frowning at the curious expressions throughout the room, she realized that most of the detectives in the bullpen were similarly distracted by the going ons in the break room. "Everybody, back to work." She commanded, raising her voice to be heard over the din in the break room. "You guys too." She threw over her shoulder as she strode across the bullpen towards the room that currently held everybody's focus.

Throwing the door open, she watched as the heads of everybody in the room turned towards her. Good, it only made her job that much easier. "Castle, my office. Now." She bit out before turning on her heel and marching back to her office, leaving Castle to scurry after her in her wake.

Waiting by her door as Castle followed meekly through, she took the opportunity to slam the door shut before spinning around to glare at Castle. "What the hell, Castle. You bought the precinct an espresso machine?"

"What? I thought it'd make you less grumpy, not more.""Yeah, well, you thought wrong." She hissed as she utilized all her self-control to refrain from murdering the infuriating man sitting in front of her.

۰ ۰ ۰

A/N: Chapter title based on the movie 'A Thin Line Between Love and Hate'.


End file.
